A process for the preparation of Dorzolamide Hydrochloride and its derivatives is known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,968 describes preparation of Dorzolamide HCl starting from chiral 5,6-dihydro-4-(S)-hydroxy-6-(S)-methyl-4H-thiopyran-7,7-dioxide, as depicted in scheme 1:

The process described in EP 0 296 879 (equivalent of U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,413) is of particular relevance. EP 0 296 879 describes the synthesis of Dorzolamide Hydrochloride starting from thiophene-2-thiol as depicted in scheme 2 and 3

The process described in EP 0,296,879 (scheme 2) has the following disadvantages: (a) The starting material Thiophene-2-thiol is unstable and undergoes oxidation to form disulfide, leading to lower yield of viii; (b) the yield of sulfonamide (xii) from sulphonic acid (x) is very poor (35%) and requires use of 18-crown-6 ether, which is expensive; (c) oxidation of alcohol (xiii) to sulfone is carried out using oxone which is expensive and hazardous; and separation of cis/trans isomer is done by column chromatography which is industrially inconvenient.